What Willy Hernangomez Learned From Marc & Pau Gasol During The EuroBasket

What Willy Hernangomez Learned From Marc & Pau Gasol During The EuroBasket

Willy Hernangomez has outplayed Joakim Noah last season

Known as Kristaps Porzingis’ frontcourt mate while playing together in Spain, the New York Knicks traded for 2015 No. 35 overall pick Willy Hernangomez on draft night to reunite the two. In 2016-17, Hernangomez has been more effective than New York’s $72 million man Joakim Noah arguably all season and has shown great potential on the court.

New York Knicks head coach Jeff Hornacek has used Hernangomez in a number of ways all season, and he has strived in each of them. Whether coming off the bench providing a spark with his ability to work in the paint and crash the boards, the 22-year-old center has emerged as a valuable bigman for New York.

But he is still young and has a lot to learn. As a European big man, who better to learn from than the Gasol Brothers? Hernangomez teamed up with Pau and Marc to play for their home country Spain in this past summer’s EuroBasket.

Willy told News Day, what he was able to learn from them that will make him a better player.

“Being in EuroBasket, being with the Gasol brothers every day, I think is something special,” said Hernangomez. “I think I’m really a more complete player right now. So I feel like Gasol brothers, helped me a lot. They gave me great advice.”

“They told me a couple tricks. How to read the defense, tricks on how to be more focused during the game, before a game, so I can be more ready.

“On offense, a couple tricks that Pau showed me. Marc, how to play more in the low post, how to read the defense. Because now everybody knows me a little bit more, so I have to do better passes. I think it’s going to be a great challenge for me and I’m ready for it.”